simply sailing

There was a time, presumably, when if you needed a mooring in the British Isles you put one down on the bottom of a protected piece of water. My first boat sat for a year or two on the River Plym for the princely sum of £150 per year. Before going to Malta I had become so attuned to paying dues and being regulated that these ideas of putting my own mooring down where I wished and not having to gain permission were completely alien to me. St Thomas' Bay is a dirty little bay which I have come to love. It is populated by the Maltese who keep their boats for fishing and fun moored in the bay, who sleep in their converted boat houses and see little need for regulations. It is a place where there is no charge for using the slip but you may have to wait for the bakers horse to finish its therapy session. It is a place which Blue Moon now knows as home.

the summer season of 2006

We launched the day after arrival on the island and spent a couple of days bimbling about locally with a family who were staying with us for week. The sea was crystal clear and 26 degrees centigrade which made for plenty of swimming for the kids and even I jump in when it is that warm. The wind is something which I had not noticed before whilst working on the house or visiting other parts of the island. Now that I had Blue Moon available for use it became apparent that the wind in this part of the Mediterranean generally comes from the North West at anything from Force 1 to 5 for the majority of the time. Every now and again it will go around to the East for a day or two but then revert to the North West. It sets up quite a chop as well which surprised me because once you are about 250 metres off the depth is over 20 metres.

Malta from the sea is a place of two halves. The easy side lies to the north east, the less easy (due to continuous cliffs and no safe anchorages lies to the south west. Our first outing up the easy side was a stiff tack into a Force 4 NW to reach the Grand Harbour. This, once the home of the Mediterranean Fleet and for a time during 1942 and 1943 the most heavily bombed part of the world, is now a haven for sailing small boats yet there are few there! Valetta lies to the north west whilst the creeks to the south are now the home of Malta Dockyard, the marina and moorings for local boats. Getting in and out of the Harbour can be exciting because the number and size of the cruise liners is increasing and they take little notice of a Shrimper bobbing around in the entrance when they are on their way in or out. Once in there are numerous places to drop the hook or pick up a mooring for lunch or you can just mooch around taking in the sights.

To the north west of the main island of Malta lies two smaller island, Comino and Gozo. Comino is nearly uninhabited as it has one hotel, one police hut, a church and a few old fortifications. It is quite wonderful especially in the spring when the local holiday makers deem it to be too cold to visit. The sailing time from St Thomas Bay is a day in a Shrimper (against the NW wind!). Once there the anchorages are great; very deep so a great deal of chain and line are needed but absolutely clear and looking down on to an azure blue limestone floor with shoals of fish between you and the bottom.

Over the next few weeks we sailed around and about a great deal although we never did succeed in circumnavigating Gozo as well as Malta. When the wind came in from the east we dropped our mooring in St Thomas Bay and pottered around to Marsaxlok Bay and used the anchor for a temporary stay. Generally we sailed a little, dropped the anchor in a bay, had lunch and then sailed back home. Bliss..

If you would like to learn more about the Cornish Shrimper please go to the Shrimper Owners Association site, more..

If anyone would like any more information about sailing in Malta or might like to stay there and use the house and boat please drop me a line to soa@shrimperowner.org.